PRECIOUS
by fishbone76
Summary: Post ME3 Traynor/Femshep ficlet with fluff, some smut, drama and humour.


**Disclaimer:** Mass Effect and its characters belong to EA/BioWare

Post ME3 Traynor/Femshep ficlet with lots of fluff, some smut, drama and humour.

You might think I just copied the extended cut dialogue at the start of this story but it's worth reading since I added some content to it and it's important to an aspect of the story.

Huge thanks goes to GracefulDemon for beta-reading, support, help, input and rap over my knuckles whenever I deserved it ;) *hug*

Precious

She sat down beside a moribund Anderson clutching to his bleeding stomach and looked out the viewport. The human military and allied forces still assaulted the Reapers above earth. It was a strange sight, watching the mute action of firing guns and ships exploding on the other side of the glass. Only their shallow breathing and the low hum of the Citadel was audible.

"Commander," Admiral Anderson acknowledged the N7 Marine with a groan.

She also was severely wounded. The pain on the left side of her groin shot through her whole body as she shifted closer to him. She lifted her bloody hand from the wound, inspecting the injury for a moment before she put the hand back to it.

"We did it." Relief filled her achy voice.

"Yes. We did." His gaze moved from the Commander to the viewport. "It's quite a view."

"Best seats in the house."

"God... feels like years since I just sat down."

"I think you earned a rest."

"Have you ever wondered how things would've been different? How our lives would be different if this hadn't happened? I never had a family Shepard. Never had children." Fatigue consumed him and he fought hard to keep his eyes open.

He looked at her. "I never told you but I think you should know. I promised your father to look after you-" he coughed "-at least until you're old enough to look out for yourself. Although, even now that you're a grown up you manage to get yourself in trouble a lot."

Shepard chuckled.

He smiled at her. "He would be proud of you. I am proud of you."

"Thank you Sir."

"I've always seen you as the daughter I never had. I regret not spending more private time with you."

She gave him a shy smile that grew into a pride beam. "We have more than enough time for that now."

He chuckled, but he was interrupted by his coughing which led to his body convulsing violently. "I think that ship has sailed. I'm not gonna make it out alive." His voice grew weaker, his eyelids demanded vehemently to be closed.

She placed her right hand flat over his left and worried about how cold it felt. "Don't say that."

"What about you? Ever think about settling down?"

"Yeah. I like the sound of that."

Samantha's voice popped up in her head, wandering back to a few hours ago when they stood in the CIC, saying their goodbyes, before she left for this hell of a Mission. _Good, because I wasn't really joking. I want a big house, white picket fence, and a dog, some kind of Retriever..._

"Not sure how good I'd be with that though."

"Sure you would. I think you'd make a great mother."

"Aha." She hummed uncertain.

"Think how proud your kids would be. Telling everyone their Mom is Commander Shepard." _I was thinking about two kids_, Sam's hesitant voice echoed in her mind.

"I don't know about that. Not everything I've done is something I'd be proud of."

"_I_ am proud of you Jane. You did good child. You did good. I'm sorry I have to leave you." He regretted. His breath came shorter with every spoken word.

"It's ok." Shepard's voice cracked. She knew he would die soon. She just wasn't ready to accept the unpreventable. Her eyes became watery and she allowed tears to roll down her dirty battered face before wiping them away.

"The last time I saw you cry was the day your dog died, you were 12."

Anderson took her hand in his. "I was with your father when he died. That's where I gave him the promise. Your mother probably never told you. His death was hard for her."

"Yeah, she didn't tell me much. Always seemed sad when I asked about him."

"He was a brave man. You have his stubbornness and determination. I didn't leave his side until he stopped breathing. And now his daughter is doing the same for me. Irony of fate."

"You won't Admiral! Stay with me."

"What's her name?"

It took Shepard some seconds until she understood who he was talking about. Still she wasn't sure.

"Samantha?"

"I always had a problem with recalling names." Another cough interrupted his words. "Samantha Traynor! Now I remember." A smile crept in Anderson's features. "The Comm Specialist. A remarkable young woman: smart, very intelligent, always polite, and never short of a witty remark. Haven't had the opportunity to talk much with her during the retrofits. Tell me about her."

_Flatter me all you want. I'm still not feeding your fish._ Shepard guffawed at the memory. "She's keeping me on a short leash. Mercilessly."

"She'll keep you in line then."

"You have no idea."

He chuckled weakly. "Well that's how it is with British girls. Resolute but loyal."

"She's amazing. And one of the things I got right." Shepard smiled slightly.

"So wasn't she concerned about the fraternisation regulation?"

"Fuck that rule! You can't regulate love."

"The mighty Shepard; smitten by a Comm Specialist. I believed you and Lieutenant Vega had become pretty close. Thought you opted more for someone like him."

"I have enough action on the battlefield. I prefer coming home to someone quiet and peaceful."

"Getting old Shepard?"

"I guess so." Shepard sighed. "She wants two kids."

"You already decided that?"

"_She_ decided."

"Sometimes there's just no room left for discussion. You're screwed... in a good way." He patted her hand and they chuckled.

"If one is going to be a boy, I'll name it David."

"That's kind of you. But if she doesn't like the name?"

"She'll just have to want to. Sometimes there's just no room left for discussion. Right?"

Silence.

"Anderson?" Her voice broke. "Stay with me. We are almost through this."

"I wish ..."

His eyes closed. His chest went motionless. He wasn't breathing anymore.

Her mentor and friend was gone.

**10 months later **in a remote country side somewhere in the US

Warm air and busy bird twitter flooded through the open windows into the wide open room. The sunlight shone against the ochre walls, enlightening the large living room, and on the grey tiled floor two Retriever dogs dozed with their four legs stretched. Jack and Mate were their names, given by Samantha's love for wordplay.

Commander Jane Shepard sat on the white couch, one leg bent under her other, and her hands and eyes occupied with a book titled _Pregnancy and What to Expect_.

Barefoot Samantha patted into the living room. Her brown eyes scanned the area looking for her favorite working tool, a selfmade encoding device. As she walked by the fish tank she envied its inhabitants and wished for some cooling, even if she only wore a T-shirt and thin cotton hot pants she was still uncomfortably hot. Taking care to not step on her dogs' tails, she tiptoed around their sleeping forms; Jack and Mate didn't move an inch. Surely, they too were suffering with the heat, Sam thought as she walked towards the big couch. At least the floor tiles gave the bottom of her feet a cool relief.

When she scanned the sexy redhead on the comfy couch her lips curled up in an appreciative smile. Shepard was so engrossed in her book that she didn't notice her approach.

Samantha took the time to appreciate the body of her wife.

The retired Marine was sexy in many ways. Her now shoulder length red-hair and green eyes where rare. The freckles on her face that also owned a part of her upper body, hips and thighs added an even more exotic look. Then there was her athletic body: strong arms, perfectly defined abs, and sturdy legs.

Shepard's body was divine. Her manners though, weren't always. Some polishing clearly wouldn't be amiss. The black haired woman mused, but appreciating how Shepard's top ended just below her naked breasts and a shred of jeans which were even shorter than her own hot pants, Sam felt a different sort of heat overcoming her. She shook her head to get the thought out of her mind. A cool shower would be a good idea. If the temperature was to rise like the weather forecast announced, she would spend the next days under the shower for sure, with or without Shepard.

"Darling? Have you seen my ... ah never mind, there it is."

Putting her right knee on the couch and leaning her body close to Shepard, Sam placed her left hand on her lovers shoulder for support.

She stretched her body upwards and reached the shelf above the couch. Grabbing for the tool and mumbling about not remembering having it placed there.

Jane was sure Sam looked even more beautiful since she got pregnant. Sam was in the 15th week. Her hair was shinier, her skin had an almost magical glow, her smile had become more adorable - she even smelled better. Her belly and breasts had started growing during the last weeks.

Another welcome change was Samantha's sex drive. Not that she ever was averse to it but it wasn't until she got pregnant that she matched the amount of lust Shepard always had.

Then, of course, there were the less welcomed changes. She started needing more resting time.

Samantha could be pretty unstable and peevish from one moment to the next - which had led to some uncontrollable shouting and crying a couple of times already. She had even kicked Shepard out of the bedroom at one evening, who had to spend the night on the couch. Since she became pregnant, her hormones were on a rampage.

On some days Samantha was a nightmare.

Shepard wasn't sure if she wanted Sam to become pregnant a second time. She wasn't even sure if she would manage to stay alive the next five months.

Samantha's slightly swollen belly almost touched Shepard's cheeks while she grabbed her small tool on the upper shelf. Jane set the book aside, pushed Sam's shirt up and put both her hands flat on Sam's belly, then planted a light kiss on the soft skin above her bellybutton. Shepard looked up and leaned back into the couch cushion when Samantha moved and straddled her thighs.

"You know it's only about 10 cm by now and weights about 70 grams? Still so tiny." Shepard said in awe while she looked at Samantha's belly and gestured the size with two of her fingers holding up on the belly.

Setting the Encoder down next to her right leg and placing her now free hands on her wife's shoulder Samantha studied her with a wondering expression. "Hard to imagine you have been so tiny once."

"Can you feel it moving already? The book says it starts moving a lot in the 15th week and you might be able to feel it like the moving wings of a butterfly."

"No, not feeling anything yet, and to be honest I'm a bit worried if it starts moving. If it has the same fondness of boxing like you do..." Samantha hinted jokingly.

"Good to know you're in a good mood. How are you feeling? No sickness, headaches?"

Sam huffed "Stop asking that every bloody day. You'll just jinx it."

"But the book says..."

Samantha cut off her wife's attempt with an annoyed voice. "There are women who go through pregnancy without much side effects and I would be happy if I am one of these lucky ones."

"But..."

"Oh shut it!" She slapped Shepard lightly at the top of the head.

"And gone is the good mood." Shepard smirked.

"I'm always in a good mood, unless you tell me I'm fat." Sam shifted closer when strong hands pushed at her back.

"I just want to take care of you."

"You can do this without me having to throw up, you know? And besides, you already take good care of me - most notably at night." Sam leaned down for a kiss until Shepard broke it.

"Oh, I almost forgot; your mother called while you were taking your midday nap. Wanted to know how the two of you are doing. She wants you to call back."

"Ah, she's almost as annoying as you. Maybe I should just leave and come back when the child is born."

"Now that hurt my feelings." she quipped. "You would leave me after all I did for you? Offered you my shower, gave you my love, almost died for you. Saved the world, quit active duty and made you my wife. Not to mention giving my invaluable DNA to get it mixed with yours for the baby."

"That's quite a list. Although, you forgot it was _my_ toothbrush that made the last four things even possible."

Sam hadn't thought it would be that easy getting Shepard to quit active duty. It looked like Jane herself had had enough of the war but not her Soldier's life. It was a part of Jane, an important component that made up a huge piece of her personality. Shepard hadn't been keen on quitting active duty right away, but Sam insisted her to quit and become a drill instructor. _"I'm not getting pregnant before you quit, I'm not interested in popping out kids and fear for you getting killed. I've gone through enough fear for you already."_

Sam's mind wandered ten months back.

After the Crucible had fired the red energy beam, the part where both Crucibel and Citadel had been connected exploded, and a small section had fallen on Earth. This was where they had found Commander Shepard: two days later, lying between rubbles, barely alive, close to dying of blood loss and thirst.

Samantha herself had been on that search party. Seeing the woman who meant the world to her in shredded armour, burnt skin, blood all over; the image was burnt into her memory forever. Regardless, Shepard was still in one piece, almost not damaged except for one severe injury: a severe wound in her pelvis. Part of her reproductive organs had been damaged to a point that it was impossible to reconstruct them.

Thus carrying the child to term had been handed to Samantha. There had been no time to talk about it anyway during the war since the topic of children came up shortly before the last fight, but somehow, Sam had imagined that both of them would be carrying out one child.

Sam didn't know if not being able to bear children was causing distress for Jane. When the Doctor had brought it up and explained it detailed to Shepard at the hospital during her recovery, the Commander had taken the information like a mission report. When Sam addressed her later in private, she said she was ok, but Sam wasn't sure if this was the truth. The wall Shepard had built around her was high and Sam wasn't always able to crawl over it, especially if Jane didn't let her. However, the bricks loosened up over time and Sam learned quickly to remove them one by one.

Soon after Shepard was released from the Hospital they purchased a house at the countryside, far away from the cities and towns which were still being rebuilt. The Reapers hadn't shown interest on the countryside due the low population and therefore it hadn't been destroyed much.

Samantha's mind came back to present.

Now all that was left to do was getting Shepard to remove the weapons out of the house, especially her beloved Mattock that as of late had gotten a gold-plate gun barrel.

"Darling?" Came a sweet purr over crimson lips. "Let's get down to brass tacks!"

"Umm sure. What's on your mind sweetie?" Shepard tried not looking at the tool Samantha had taken off the shelf above them, but her green eyes darted over to it for a millisecond nevertheless.

"_This!-_" Sam looked at her encoding gadget to her right side. "-should be on my personal desk, because I always put it back there." The next word was emphasised while she looked deep into her wife's eyes. "_Always._"

Shepard knew she was busted... again.

"Strangely, it happens every now and then that I find it somewhere else, due to the fact that a certain someone uses it - even if that certain someone isn't even allowed to use it, especially not to modify a Mattock." Samantha stabbed her right index finger into the suspect's sternum.

Shepard wanted to say something but was silenced by a firm look and a finger on her lips.

"I don't let it lay around anywhere."

"That was my line." Shepard blurted sheepishly.

"I'm known to be very tidy when it comes to my valuable-"

"-nerdy," the redhead heckled.

"-tool." Samantha growled. "How often do I have to tell you: it's a programming and encoding device, _n__ot_ a mod tool . You have your own for that."

Shepard sighed and pouted. "It's by far not as good as this one."

"You'll break it sooner or later because it's not aligned to mod weapons. If I ever catch you red handed you can prepare yourself for a shitload of punishment."

Shepard grinned mischievously.

Samantha scowled. "I mean business."

Jane's grin widened .

"Seriously."

"You and serious? Samantha _jocular_ Traynor-Shepard."

"Seriously; especially when I'm pregnant."

The Marine went pale. A pregnant hormone raging Sam throttling her _was_ a fearful image. A pregnant hormone raging Sam throwing knifes at her, even more so. And the most horrible instrument Sam could use and actually had done so a few times already was withholding sex for punishment. Yes, Samantha could be very cruel when pissed.

Sam huffed "I've put a lot-"

"...of time and work into building and personalizing this tool. I know my love." Shepard smiled and held up a hand. "Okay, I promise I'll never use it again if you're so afraid that I might break it." Shepard lulled with honesty and care in her voice.

"You have a talent for destroying anything with your rough hands and power."

"I thought you liked my rough hands?"

"On my body: yes. On my precious tool: no."

"To me there's nothing more precious than my pregnant wife."

Shepard's declaration was rewarded with a deep kiss.

"You make me an awesome mod tool then?" She asked in an adorable voice and her famous puppy-dog eyes look.

"Why? You'll get the weapons out of the house before the baby is born."

"Okay..." she said reluctantly, but then her voice became adamant "but the Mattock-"

"Goes as well."

"The Mattock stays! No discussion there. I'm not giving away my beloved Mattock." Shepard said with determination.

"Me or the Mattock!" That sounded final.

"You can't be serious?!" Shepard was flabbergasted.

Samantha huffed, leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest. Her face showed no sign of giving in.

"Sam!"

"Jane!"

"We... I need at least one weapon in the house. You'll never know what might happen." Shepard again, had that pouting expression on her face mixed with slight horror. "I need it to protect you... us."

"We have the dogs."

"They are not bullet-proof and neither am I without a gun."

Samantha's eyes moved away from the green ones that looked at her expectantly. Setting her gaze on the wall behind the couch she contemplated a short time.

"Okay. The Mattock stays... secured in a gun locker in the bedroom, but I warn you, if you ever show it to the kid before he or she isn't old enough..."

"I get your point."

"Fine. Now that we have settled that, have you come up with any name yet?" Satisfied with how easy the problem was solved, Samantha was happy to change the subject.

Their question for a name had come up a few days ago. They also had decided from the beginning that they didn't want to know the baby's gender - it should be a surprise at the birth.

"If it's gonna be a boy I want 'David'; there's no room for discussion." Shepard demanded determined.

Samantha huffed. "Pardon me? _I'm_ the one getting fat, carrying it around nine months and popping it out under pain. Don't you think I deserve to have a say in that?"

"You can choose the second name." Shepard suggested unimpressed.

"I don't care about second names."

"It's important to me." All lightness and ease vanished from Shepards face. Samantha realised instantly the emotional shift and tensed in the body of her partner.

"Care to enlighten me?" She asked softly and put both her palms on each side of Shepards tense jaw, moving her head upwards to look her in the eyes.

Emerald eyes grew noticeably dark. Shepard then told Samantha about her last conversation with Admiral Anderson and that she had given him his promise to name their son after him. "It's important to me. It's my way to honour him." Shepard ended her explanation.

"Okay. But you should have told me earlier." Disappointment was clearly evident in her voice.

Shepard dropped her head in shame and her shoulders slumped. "Yeah. Sorry. I wanted to, but..." She sighed.

Sometimes, Jane was still secretive about emotions and past happenings. Sam was good at cracking her hard shell, but it also hurt to feel left out, when her wife was inaccessible when in a bad mood.

Jane suffered from PTSD. Samantha had realised it short after she and Jane had become an item. The woman must have gone through a lot cruelty and horror regarding her Soldier's life to suffer from it. What Sam had experienced on her home planet Horizon surely wasn't comparable in the slightest.

Samantha contemplated her observations.

Waking up by the noises of her wife tossing around in sleep, soaked in sweat was something she experienced regularly. Jane suffered still from nightmares and they hadn't become less since the end of the Reaper war, although they had changed from the burning boy to Samantha turning into a Husk or into Reaper goo.

On very rare occasions Jane was lost in flashbacks in the middle of the day. The trigger could be anything from a noise to a certain smell or even a simple word. It wasn't hard to recognize when she was lost in such a flashback since she had that _thousand-yard-stare_ on her face.

The most common symptom was the difficulty to fall or stay asleep. When Sam woke up in the middle of the night or on early morning, she found herself alone in bed, most of the time. Shepard was either watching TV, or working on one of her ship models or she was sitting in front of the house on the stairs watching the starry sky. Jack and Mate were always by her side. Sometimes Sam sneaked up behind her wife, cuddling into her, sitting there together, just enjoying the quiet and peaceful moment.

Jane never liked to talk about her nightmares but Sam pressed, didn't gave in to the her pigheaded wife. She knew of her own experience during the collector's attack on Horizon that it was important and healthy to talk about it..

Sam moved Shepards face upwards again and placed a light kiss on her lips. "You know it helps me to understand you better, and I don't want you to live alone with any burden and worries."

"Yeah. I try. It's just - it's not always easy." the red-head mumbled.

"I know." Samantha whispered and pushed her lips onto Jane's, softly first but deepening the kiss and probing her tongue inside Shepard's mouth in search for her counterpart. A moan escaped Sam as she felt fingers moving into her pants and over soft skin, dipping and stroking into her warm centre. She broke the kiss which made Shepard growl in frustration. Sam shifted her upper body back and looked down between them.

"What are you doing?" She asked amused.

"Umm... trying out entangled communication between my fingers and your body." A shameless smirk was plastered on the redhead's face.

"It's hot." Sam stated and squirmed under the moving fingers. It was a delightful sensation and as much as she loved her wife touching her, it was definitely too warm and she was more interested in having a conversation now.

"Yes, especially there." While she said that, her fingers moved over Sam's most sensitive spot and further.

"I meant... it's too hot... to have sex... for me at least." Getting a sentence straight out was becoming hard.

"Oh, come on. The bedroom is cooled, let's get up. I know you want to, I can see it." Shepard enjoyed watching the increasing arousal on her wife's face.

"It's not that long ago since you had your hands there."

"Really? It feels like days to me."

Samantha's head moved to the holoclock besides the couch. "It was four hours and twenty minutes ago, circa."

"See I said it was too long ago."

Sam giggled, caught Shepard's hand and pulled it out. "Later! Okay?"

"Mkay." Shepard mumbled before she putted her wet fingers in her mouth and sucked them clean. "Mmmmm. You taste so good." She purred while looking up into brown eyes. Sam bit her lower lip and smiled sheepish.

Samantha draped her arms on her wife's shoulders. "Okay we have a boy's name. What about the counterpart?"

"Sharon or Jennifer sounds pretty nice. For a second first name I thought about Kali. Sharon Kali Shepard. Sounds great, eh?"

"Should I've really expected anything less from you?" Sam sighed and looked at her reproachfully.

Green eyes looked questioningly upwards.

"You are aware that's the name of the war goddess?"

"Why not? I'm a war goddess too." Shepard grinned cockily. "Didn't you just say you don't care about second names?"

"Well, that depends on the name of course." she sighed "Kali the black. Goddess of death and war. Really?"

Shepard nodded, keeping the cocky expression on her face. Samantha rolled her eyes.

"Have I ever told you, you have an awful exaggerated self-opinion?"

"Say's the smartass." Shepard countered.

"Egocentric show-off." the darker skinned woman returned.

"Miss know-it-all."

"Chess cheater."

"Nerd."

"Animal."

Shepard smirked approvingly.

"Oh you like that? I'll take it back then."

Shepard pouted briefly.

"Robot fetishist."

Sam mumbled an indignant "Wha!" Lowering her eyebrows, Samantha's mouth closed to a tight lipped smile. She fixed the woman with straightened lower eyelids while considering her next words wisely.

"Bad dancer," she spoke slowly, emphasising both words.

A yelp of surprise escaped Samantha as Shepard hardened her hold on her and bolted up. Sam lost her balance by the unexpected quick move and so did Jane.

"Don't you dare let me fall!" Sam squeaked and held on tightly to the other woman.

It took Shepard only a blink to stand solid again with Sam in her arms. "Never. My precious wife with baby inside."

"Old flatterer."

"Still not feeding my fish?"

"Flatter me another year and I might think about it."

Shepard began walking.

"Put me down."

"No."

"Where are we going?"

Shepard answered with a smirk followed by a kiss. "I'll show you the animal inside me now." With her wife in a secure hold, she walked up the stairs to the bedroom.

"I always wondered what it is that makes you so insatiable?"

"It's all your fault. Because you're so damn _shaggable_."

Sam giggled then smiled broadly "Will you use the toy?"

"Oh yes."

FIN


End file.
